Swimming-suit.



S. ROTH.

SWIMMING SUIT. APPLIOATIOH FILED AP11.18,1912.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

sin;

WITNESSES `ATTORNEY8 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIeE.

SAMUEL ROTH, F NEW YoEK, N. Y., A SsIGNoR oF'oNnTHInn or BRooKrijzN, NEW Yoran.'

TO PIETER TREFFERS,

SWIMMINGTSUIT.

Specification M Letfters Patent.

Patented Appr. 15, 1913.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL Ro'rrl, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Swimming-Suit, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention'relates to swimming suits, and it comprises certain improvements especially designed to be used in connection with submarines for the purpose of enabling the members of the crew of the submarine vesselto escape therefrom in case of accident and make their way safely to the surface of the water.

`In .its preferred form my invention comprises a suit not unlike an. ordinary divers suit, but provided with buoyant attachments to enable the wearer to make his way upward in the water and keep on floating when once he reaches the surface.

My invention is also provided with a plurality of chambers which may be used for the purpose of storing water, oxygen andthe like, to enable the wearer to sustainv himself for a considerable len th of time in ease he should not be immedlately picked up by a passing `vessel to complete his rescue from the disabled craft abandoned by him.

Reference is to be had to the acoompanying drawings forming a part of this speciication, in -which the same characters of refer ence indicate the saine parts in all the views. Figure 1 is a front elevation of my invention Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view, taken centrally through the body portion thereof:

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a detail; Fig. t is a top plan o1. the collar which .fits around the neck of the wearer; Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional View on the line 5-5 .of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line (5--G of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is an elevationalA View showing one of the intertting strips usedto line the edge of the suit along the chest and back portion thereof where the same is made to be opened to enable the wearer to don the same.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the suit'is indicated as a whole by the numeral 1, and it is provided with arms 2, terminating i`n wrist bands 3; and is further provided with legs 4, terminating in portions 5, for incasing the wearers feet. These feebincasirg portions may be providedl with metal soles toserve as ballast to retain the suit and the wearer in upright position, The entire suit is of course made ofv some, flexible waterproof material, such `as rubber, and may be lined with cloth to promote the 4comfort of. the wearer. The body ofthe suit is provided with three circumferential chambers shown at 6, 7 and 8, the chamber 6 being for the reception of oxygen; the chamber 7 for the 65 reception ofair, andthe chamber 8 for the receptionof liquid food. The chamber 8 is provided with a conduit 9 which leads upward along the interior of the suit and terminates adjacent the wearers mouth; and

between the lower end of the conduit 12 and 75' the bottom of the socket is a spring 14, this spring normally being under tension to draw down the conduit 11 and keep the ports 10 and 12 out of registry.V The upper end of the conduit 11 likewise terminates adjacent 80 the mouth of the wearer, and when he desires to obtain oxygen he merely takes the end of the conduit between his teeth and pulls upward upon the same by moving his head until the ports 10 and 12 are brought 85 into registry.

15 is a band by means o which the ends of the conduits 9 and l1 are held against the wearers chin.

16 are suitable attachments secured to the 90 shoulders of the suit to increase the buoyancy thereof, and may be made hollow or may be ofsome light material, such as cork;I and 17 are webs which are attached to the body portion adjacent the chambers G, 7 and 95 8, and provided with fastening devices along their outer edges to enable them to be secured to the insides of the arms 2. These webs may be rolled up as indicated at the right of Fig; 1, or llnrolled and fastened to the arms, as indicated atthe left of this figure, to enable the swimmer to use these webs to propel himself forward in the water.

The suit is divided from the neck a certain distance downward, as shown at 1S, in front and back, to enable the swimmer to readily don thesame; and after the suit has been put on in this way the edges of the divided portions are then securedtogether, being provided with a parti'cular kind 'of lining to make a water-tight joint. The cloth forming t-he upper part of the body- 1 isA split along the edges of the divisions 18, as shown at 19 in Fig. 5, and the inner edges of these split portions are' connected vby means of iiex'ible webs 20. To the inner and outer of both of the split portions 19 are secured corrugated strips .21. A packing strip 22 is locatedbetween these corrugated strips to prevent the passage of water. The 'corrugated strips 21 arehinged together at the bottom as shown at 23, and they are provided with perforations 24 which pass through the same and through the strip 22.

25 are pins. having down-turned ends in the form of hooks passing through the aper- 1 tures 24 and secured at their inner ends to a bar 26. This bar is located inside the suit and at its lower end it is engaged by a spring which acts to pull the bar down. When drawn downto its lowermost position the vhooked ends of the pins 25 terminate below the edges of the apertures l24, as shown particularly in Fig. `6 and the effect is to hold the corrugated strips-with the packing strip l22 between them tightly together,making a watertight formation. This construction is the same at the front and back, .as shown in Fig. 4. i

The upper end of each ofthe strips 21 is rabbeted, and one side of each "rabbeted portion is screw-threaded as shown at 23. To each of the strips 21 at one side of the front and back is connectedl one-half of a collar l29, this -collar being screw-threaded over its out-er curved surface, as shown in Fig. 6, to enable the helmet 30 to be put in place thereon. The helmet may be provided with a signal inthe form of a iiag 31, to attract attention in the daytime, or an electric lamp 32, which may be lighted up by means of a battery and switch, not shown, and serve instead of the flag 31vat night. The helmet is further provided with a door 33 in front, having eye-holes closed by some transparent medium at'. 34, and another aperture closed by some transparentl medium opposite the wearers mouth, as shown at 35. 36 are similar apertures closed by pieces of glass adj acent the wearers ears.

The construction above described is adapted to be used in lconnection with my improvement in submarine rescuing apparatus shown and described in my copendng application, Serial No. 633,020, filed June 14,

1911 and allowed March 8, 1912, and many.

of the above features of my improved swimming suit are disclosed in this aforesaid appllcation.

In practice, the submarine vessel will be' provided with a -number of my improved swimming suits to enable one to be assigned to eachmember of the crew. In case of ac-` cident 'each ,member of'thecrew vwill put on lthe same upon the threaded collar 29,

his swimming suit, rst det-aching the helmet 30 and opening the same at the top by I pulling the rod 26 to bring the hooks 25 into .registry with the apertures 24, and then. swinging the strips 21'apart, withdrawing the hooks 25 from the apertures v24. After putting onthe suit the wearer again raises the rod 26 and moves the strips 21 by hand to bring them together. This causes the hooks 25 to pass through the apertures 24, and when the rod 26 is released the spring 27 pulls the same down, causing the lower ends of the hooks to pass over the edges of the apertures 24 in the opposite strip 21, andv hold the two strips 21 with the packing strip 22 between themtightly together. He next puts the helmet 30 over his head and screws the helmet when/in place will hold the halves of the collar 29 together and Asecure the strips 21 to each other, even though the vro-d 26 should get temporarily displaced.

In this way the suit vwill always be sealed against the entrance of water and neverv get opened until the helmet is taken off.

The door 33 is of course provided with a gasketaround its edges to pack the same,

and any approved form of catch maybe used so that the wearer ofthe suit may swing it open after reaching the surface.`

After donning th'e suit the wearer makes his exit from the submarine, and once outside the hull of the disabled vessel the buoyancy of the members 16 and of the air and oxygen in the chambers 6 and 8 cause him to rise 4to the surface. He can now iioat around for lso and

several days if not picked up sooner, and if not too far. off shore he may swim to land,

using the web 17 for this purpose. Enough oxygen and liquid food may bestored in the chambers 6 and 8 tosustain him a considerable period in case he is not picked up at once.

My improved swimming suit, while it is' not primarily for use in connection with submarine craft, may be also worn by aviators as a precaution against drowning in case of accident to the flying machine when above bodies of water. For this purpose the construction thereof is made as light as consistent with efficiency and durability, and

when worn for lsuch purposes the door 33:

will ofcourse always be kept open until an accident happens. Then all the aviator has to do is to snap the door 33 shut before he strikes the surface of-the water, in order to avoid drowning.

The chambers 67 and 8 can of course be filled by means of nipples having screwthreaded caps thereon, as shown in Fig. 1,l

as will be readily understood.

If desired, thel transparent bodies 34,

which form the eye holes, and the parts 35 and 36 as well, may have screw-threaded engagement with the helmet, so thatthey can be unscrewed by the wearer to provide openngs in the helmet without` opening the oor 33.

I wish tohave it understood that the above description and drawings to which the same refers illustrate but one embodiment of myinvention, and lthat I do not care to be lim- -ited to the details thereof, but wish to resaid conduit to hold the same in position to keep said apertures out of registry, and ahelmet secured to the said body receiving the .other end'of said conduit.

2. In a device of the kind described, the

combination of a body having separated edges extending downward from the top thereof at the frontend back, interfitting means secured `along said edges to enable said edges to make a tight 'oint with each other, collar sections secure to the top of said body and joined to the outer ends of said interitting means, and a helmet having means for engaging said collar sections.

3. In a. device of the kind described, a body having separated edges to enable the same to be opened at the top, said edges being split longitudinally, and a web connecting the inner' split portions of said edges.

4. In a device of the kind described, the combination of a body having divided edges to enable the same to be opened at the top thereof, said edges being split longitudinal ly, said split portions being turned inward and outward, interengagirig strips secured to the,

intiirned and out-turned split poi-tions of each of said edges, and means for holding said strips iii engagement with each other. 5. In a device of the kind described, the

combination of a body having divided edges V edges, a packing strip located between thc to enable the same to be opened, said edges being'split longitudinally, corrugated strips secured to the split portions of each of said said corrugated strips, said strips all having registering apertures, a springactuatcd V bar located inside of said body, and hooks carried by said bar topass through said apertures and hold the strips in engagement with one another, said spring moving said bar to cause the hooksy to en age the edges of the apertures in one of sai strips to hold all the strips together.

6. In a device of the kind described, a body having separated edges to enable the same to be opened, said edges being split longitudinally, and inteitting means connected to said split edges te close the body.'

7. In a device of the kind described, the combination of a body havi se arated edges at the front and back, ail co lar sec tions secured to the top of the body, the ends of said sections coinciding with said ed es, whereby when said sections are held enr? to end with each other a helmet can be fa'stened upon the body.

8. In a device of the kind described, the 4 of said edges, and means carried by said body for engaging said plates and locking the same together in interitting engagement to close the body.

9. In a device of the kind described, the i combination'of a body having divided edges to venable the same to be opened, and a cerrugated plate secured to each of said edges, said plates being designed 'to have intertitting engagement with each other to close the body, and each of said plates being rabbeted adjacent the outer end of the edges to en* able a helmet to be screwed upon said body. 10. In a device of the kind described, the combination of a body having divided edges to enable the same to be opened, a corrugated plate secured to each of said divided edges, said plates being designed to have intertitting engagement with each other to close the body, said plates having registering openings therethrough, a liarI having hooks to project through said openings, and means for moving said bar and said hooks after the said hooks are in projecting position, to e. use the hooks to engage the edges of the openings in one ot. said plates and secure said plates in engagement with each other.

ll. 'lhe combination of a body having divided edges to enable the same to be opened, and collar sci-tions secured to the top of the body, each section having one end coinciding with one of the edges, whereby when the said sections have their adjacent ends brought together a helmet can be slipped upon the sections und :fastened to the body. In testimony whereof l have signed my naine to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1

SAMUEL ROTH. W'itncsses: j i

WILLIAM F. NICKEL, IiiiLiP D. RoLLHAUs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

L Washington, D. C. 

